If I say Tonnerre de Brest to you, you surely think of climatic hazards or even Captain Haddock in Tintin…. Well, can you imagine that is also the name of the american football club from Brest. An association that counts 75 licensees. And above all a team of seniors who will play again for the first time for 2 and a half years !
Sunday, February 13, the players put on their crampons and put on their helmets again for the first match of the regional championship. They face the Laval Stalions at home.
A season full of surprises
Tonnerre de Brest played in National, the third division, two years ago, but the club asked to be downgraded to Regional for financial matters. The journeys, sometimes several hundred kilometres, were too expensive.
And after more than two years without competition, the least we can say is that the outcome is uncertain says Xavier Pochet. Former player and coach of Tonnerre de Brest, he is now president of the club: “The level of all the teams is going to be a surprise. We are not going to speculate on our level either. In two and a half years without practice, we have players who have stopped, young people who have not had a career in U19. It’s really impossible to judge”, details the director.
It’s great to put the helmet back on for good – Julien
Julien has been one of the attackers of this Brest team for 4 years, more exactly he is one of the Offensive lineman. For him, whatever the score, what matters is above all to play again, finally! “Ah well that feels good! (laughs) It’s great to put the helmet back on for good, to really play a game”, exclaims the player.
But for the athlete, it will also be an opportunity to make the first adjustments before the season. “It allows us to test the team, to see where we are. There are a lot of players who have come in the meantime, others who have stopped, so the team is relatively new. In this match, we will have to ‘we confirm what we saw in training. The season has started, here we go, we have to do everything to win!”, enthuses the striker.
The Brestois had a first friendly match on Sunday February 6. They won hands down: 28-0. A rather promising startfor this long-awaited season.
– Titouan Joncour
The Superbowl as a global showcase
The meeting takes place just before the inevitable United States Super Bowl which takes place on the night of Sunday to Monday. This is the flagship event of this sport: the final of the American championship. It brings together every year nearly one hundred million viewers. The opportunity to highlight this sport, which is less successful in France. Especially with young people, says Xavier Pochet. “We are having a lot of trouble getting the young sections going again, we have very few requests this year. Usually the seniors who arrive already have a career of two or three years, in U16 or U19; whereas today these people who want to play American football don’t have that experience. It really broke the cycle of young people”, regrets the director about the health crisis.
So the Superbowl is an opportunity to attract new players every year. “I have a lot of requests to join the club after the Superbowl. It gives us a lot of visibility on a large audience”admits the director.
But before the American meeting there is the Breton one, it is at the Stade de la Marine, Sunday February 13, at 2:00 p.m.